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How does parental engagement impact language development in early childhood?

Nazrin Jafarova

ADA University

WRIT 1202

Ms. Lala Mammadova

April 28, 2024

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Introduction

Language development, which is one of the important stages in early ages, helps children prepare for school and future social interactions. This period demands a lot of effort from parents but still, there is not enough information about what effect different styles of parenting, parents’ educational backgrounds or gender of the child have on language abilities. Despite knowing that it is good for parents to be engaged, we are not aware of how this happens within families where there are different methods used in bringing up kids or varying levels of knowledge among them.

In fact. such dissimilarities between these groups can provide insights into their actions toward supporting or inhibiting language acquisition by their kids.

Parents need to assist their children in learning, speaking and comprehending a language as this will enable them to develop strong communication skills that are vital for their future success. According to research findings, caregivers need to be actively involved with their kids at the stage when they acquire language skills and this can be achieved through spending quality time together and guiding such activities like reading aloud or telling stories. Moreover, through such types of reading materials children become more imaginative in using language while at the same time getting acquainted with structural aspects of the target language (Batini et al., 2020; Isik, 2016).

Other interactive family activities are for parents to spend more time talking to their children and answering each of their questions patiently and in more detail. With this, children's ear familiarity with the language increases and they can easily keep new words in their minds (Tamis-Lemonda & Rodriguez, 2008; Topping et al., 2013). However, previous research has shown that the effects on the parent-child relationship may be different depending on the gender of the child (Barbu et al., 2015; Rinaldi et al., 2021).

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Notwithstanding the positive influence of parents with higher education on their children's language development, we need to know how different types of parents can contribute to this process (Hoff et al., 2024; Hupp et al., 2011; Iwaniec, 2020). Indeed, research also indicates that not only does parental level of schooling affect language acquisition but it also helps in selecting school placements for kids thereby exposing them to more diverse linguistic environments (Iwaniec, 2020). Furthermore, boys’ and girls’ unevenness in acquiring language skills may require moms and dads to adjust how they communicate with their kids based on both natural and cultural reasons (Barbu et al., 2015).

Even though we know that parents play a role in language development during early childhood, there are still some questions to be answered such as how parent's education level, parent-child activities, storytelling and reading aloud, and the child's gender affect language learning. While much research has been conducted on the topic of interaction between parents and children, not enough is known about whether these interactions differ based on educational backgrounds or if boys and girls respond differently to them. This literature review will delve into these areas more deeply so as to find out their influence on the effectiveness of parental involvement in fostering language skills among children. In particular, this paper will answer research question: How does parental engagement impact language development in early childhood?

References

Barbu, S., Nardy, A., Chevrot, J. P., Guellà, B., Glas, L., Juhel, J., & Lemasson, A. (2015, December 2). Sex Differences in Language Across Early Childhood: Family Socioeconomic Status does not Impact Boys and Girls Equally. Frontiers in Psychology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01874

Batini, F., D’Autilia, B., Pera, E., Lucchetti, L., & Toti, G. (2020, November 29). Reading Aloud and First Language Development: A Systematic Review. Journal of Education and Training Studies. https://doi.org/10.11114/jets.v8i12.5047

Hoff, E., Trecca, F., Højen, A., Laursen, B., & Bleses, D. (2024, March 1). Context and education affect the quality of parents’ speech to children. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2024.101632

Hupp, J. M., Munala, L., Kaffenberger, J. A., & Wessell, M. B. H. (2011, September 24). The Interactive Effect of Parental Education on Language Production. Current Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1002/jnr.24914

Isik, M. A. (2016). The Impact of Storytelling on Young Ages. European Journal of Language and Literature, 2(3), 115–118. https://doi.org/10.26417/ejls.v6i1.p115-118

Rinaldi, P., Pasqualetti, P., Volterra, V., & Caselli, M. C. (2021, July 9). Gender differences in early stages of language development. Some evidence and possible explanations. Journal of Neuroscience Research. https://doi.org/10.1002/jnr.24914

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Tamis-Lemonda, C., & Rodriguez, E. (2008). Parents’ role in fostering young children’s language and literacy development. NYU Scholars.

https://nyuscholars.nyu.edu/en/publications/parents-role-in-fostering-young-childrens-language-and-literacy-d

Topping, K., Dekhinet, R., & Zeedyk, S. (2013). Parent–infant interaction and children’s language development. Educational Psychology, 33(4), 391–426.

https://doi.org/10.1080/01443410.2012.744159